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Kali Linux vs MariaDB on CentOS comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Kali Linux
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
MariaDB on CentOS
Ranking in Operating Systems (OS) for Business
21st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Operating Systems (OS) for Business category, the mindshare of Kali Linux is 4.1%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MariaDB on CentOS is 0.2%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Operating Systems (OS) for Business Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Kali Linux4.1%
MariaDB on CentOS0.2%
Other95.7%
Operating Systems (OS) for Business
 

Featured Reviews

Ciyagi Ciyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solution Architect & Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Runs efficiently across devices and streamlines penetration testing workflows
Kali Linux could be improved by including more tools. I would personally like to see improvements in Kali Linux, particularly regarding Grub issues that sometimes occur when installing the VM. Additionally, I have experienced problems when updating Kali Linux from a higher version to a lower version, which resulted in crashes. These Grub issues should be resolved. I face significant challenges with Kali Linux regarding a major issue with the Grub loader becoming corrupted, which makes it very difficult to recover data.
DM
Performance Testing And A PM Expert at ADM
Performance tests have been streamlined for analysis while query tuning still needs improvement
The technical support or community support for MariaDB on CentOS is bad. There is a main problem with all the companies that sell this kind of tool and services. The first level of support is the first one you reach. When you begin to have a more difficult problem, there is no one available because sometimes you need to update the call and recall on it. This is not good because when we have some big problem on the database, we need to have a database administrator, not a person who reads instructions on the screen. It is always the same problem. My rating is two.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Kali Linux positively impacts my organization by allowing us to monitor changes and security posture for the company."
"Kali Linux has impacted my organization positively because it has allowed for the better security of my applications."
"If you are looking for faster, better performance or scalability, then Kali Linux is the best."
"Kali Linux has positively impacted my work by facilitating and simplifying the setup for an operating system and installing tools."
"I use the tool with Nmap to perform network audits. We use it to find vulnerabilities in our network through attacks. It's for those who want to launch or create viruses or perform attacks on systems. With Kali Linux, you can conduct penetration testing for networks, web applications, and Android mobile apps."
"The solution's most valuable feature is that it is very easy to use."
"The solution's stability is very good."
"Kali Linux offers excellent features including being lightweight with low memory usage, easy installation, portability, and multiple architectures such as ARM architecture and server architecture."
"MariaDB on CentOS is effective in handling large data volumes; I have installed approximately 10,000 devices and it is working well."
"With 10 years of experience with the product, I think the biggest advantage is that it is easier to maintain than Oracle."
"MariaDB on CentOS has positively impacted our organization in several ways."
"MariaDB on CentOS has positively impacted my organization by providing more features compared to Oracle MySQL, particularly in terms of performance, advantages, and implemented features, leading to migrations from Oracle MySQL to MariaDB on CentOS."
"MariaDB on CentOS is a very good SQL database that is open source, meaning no license cost for users."
"MariaDB on CentOS is faster than Oracle."
"MariaDB on CentOS is almost identical to MySQL, and the experience is very similar."
 

Cons

"I would like for them to offer more features for the free version in order for users to test them in their internal environment before purchasing."
"However, something about it might be improved, maybe the overall smoothness of it, because there are sometimes when I try to run a lot of applications, it tries to hang up on me."
"There can be some lagging issues because the product gets stuck at times, making it an area of concern where improvements are required."
"There are areas for improvement in Kali Linux, particularly regarding its use of the Linux kernel, which requires external additional patching, and the fact that network services are disabled by default, which complicates usage; enhancing user-friendliness through more GUI-based tools and better integration could be beneficial."
"I would like to have automation in Kali Linux instead of manually configuring or setting up something in case of an upgrade."
"Some tools in Kali Linux lack documentation and details on how to use them, which is one area where it can be improved."
"Unfortunately, my current tool runs on Windows 10, and its use is restricted to enterprise versions. Integrating this tool or similar functionalities into Kali Linux for non-enterprise users would be incredibly valuable."
"I think Kali Linux can be improved because it is not a beginner-friendly operating system."
"I think MariaDB on CentOS needs improvements in some memory-level implementations within the operating system, as I have noticed issues related to memory orientation, such as out-of-memory problems."
"You can always improve a product, and the area that is very sensitive in MariaDB on CentOS is the release and the backward compatibility."
"Many functionalities are not available in MariaDB on CentOS, so those aspects needed to be rewritten, particularly Oracle proprietary features."
"One of the things that is not ideal is that the version which is default is sometimes older than the very latest."
"The technical support or community support for MariaDB on CentOS is bad."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an open-source tool."
"The licensing fee is expensive compared to other products."
"I have used the free version."
"Kali Linux offers a perpetual license, meaning you pay for it once and can use it. While free versions of Linux are available, Kali Linux, being an enterprise edition, usually comes with a perpetual license. I rate its pricing a five out of ten."
"There is no need to make any payments towards the licensing costs since it is a solution that is available for free."
"Kali Linux is a free product, and you don't have to pay for a license."
"The tool is open-source."
"The price is good because Kali Linux already provides a good bundle of tools."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
12%
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Educational Organization
8%
Construction Company
39%
Transportation Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kali Linux?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Kali Linux has been that it was free to use.
What needs improvement with Kali Linux?
I think Kali Linux is good, but there is a widespread misunderstanding related to Kali Linux because many people believe Kali Linux is a tool for hackers and that anything can be hacked using it. T...
What is your primary use case for Kali Linux?
My main use case for Kali Linux during my educational and research projects was primarily for vulnerability research and cybersecurity research. I used it for understanding the ecosystem and learni...
What is your primary use case for MariaDB on CentOS?
I always use MariaDB on CentOS for performance testing, as my main job is to analyze all the issues after the load test. Performance testing is the central use case.
What advice do you have for others considering MariaDB on CentOS?
I am working with some testing tools today, and it is always the same tools. The big ones are LoadRunner and NeoLoad, and for APM I use Dynatrace. I also work with Grafana, but LoadRunner is my pri...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Kali Linux vs. MariaDB on CentOS and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.